Single-Use Sterile Medical Devices

The Melzi™ Sharps Finder (MSF) is a single-use sterile device designed to help surgeons locate instruments, needles, instrument fragments, or sharps lost inside a patient during surgery. When a needle miscount occurs or uncounted items are lost in vivo, the Melzi™ Sharps Finder can supplement current protocols with advanced detection to prevent retained surgical item (RSI) events, save OR time, and enable continuous flow of surgery in open and minimally invasive cases. In this 30-second video, see how easily a surgical needle can disappear during a minimally invasive procedure, followed by this 8-second clip demonstrating the Melzi™ Sharps Finder in action as a lost needle is found.

Note: The MSF detects ferrous metals (primarily composed of iron) with magnetic properties, including blades, surgical needles, instruments, and guidewires, and would NOT be interfered with by titanium clips, staples, nitinol, or plastic.

Watch this quick tutorial to see how Melzi™ works

• Two sizes available, each with adjustment dials for sensitivity, rotation, and deflection
  
  • Short-shaft (22cm) ergonomically designed for open surgery
  • Long-shaft (45cm) designed to work in a 5mm trocar for minimally invasive laparoscopic and robotic procedures
• Increases patient safetyⁱⁱⁱ
  
  • Minimizes potential RSI events
  • Prevents prolonged anesthesia time
  • Decreases patient and staff X-ray exposure
• Reduces the need for additional personnel to enter the OR (radiologist or additional staff)
• Saves OR time
  
  • Staff spends 30 minutes on average managing lost sharps
  • Using X-ray can add 40 additional minutes
• 12x more effective at locating a lost sharp than a manual searchⁱ
• 2-year shelf life with a battery life of 45 minutes
• FDA Registration: Class II 3017424875

Incorporating the Melzi Sharps Finder to a Facility's Miscount Workflow

There are many factors that can impact how a "miscount" can occur during a surgical procedure, including new instruments/needles introduced during the case, OR staff changes, multi-tasking, complex cases with high needle counts, etc. To help address miscounts, hospitals have incorporated the Melzi Sharps Finder into their OR and surgical field protocols. Potential benefits to the patient include reduced time under anesthesia, increased accuracy when locating objects that are too small to be effectively detected by X-ray, and less risk of RSIs, leading to enhanced patient safety.

Situations Where the Melzi Sharps Finder May Augment a Manual Count:

1. Inaccurate count
2. The surgical team unanimously agrees that the number of surgical instruments utilized during the OR procedure prohibits an expeditious count
3. Clinical circumstances dictate that a patient requires emergency care without time to count
4. Any member of the surgical team considers the OR procedure to be at a higher than usual risk for an RSI (e.g., more than 100 sharps used in surgery)